If there's one particular talent I have, it's making a short story long. So, here's how I nearly burned down the house twice this evening.

To start, Bean had shots yesterday. And apparently they didn't sit well with him today. If you have a squeamish stomach, you may want to skip to the next part. Unfortunately, with this round of shots, he had a restless night last night, requiring a few doses of Tylenol. This afternoon he got really lethargic, and then, right after Bear got home, started throwing up all over. After throwing up for about an hour, Bean finally fell into a deep sleep for a few hours. He woke up his bright-eyed self again. Shortly after, we decided to give him a bath. Something smelled funny, and I realized what it was as I was taking off his diaper. To call it foul-smelling is like calling sewage, rosewater. It was like a mixture of vomit and rotten yogurt. I gave him a good wipe-down before handing him over to Bear.

Bean's diaper pail reeked something beyond reeking, and we keep it, along with his changing table, in our room. So as soon as Bear had Bean in the bath, I threw all his diapers from today in the wash. The room still smelled.

I had a bright idea. Light a candle.

I chose the closest candle, an aromatherapy one from Bath and Body Works. This candle has to be at least 5 years old, if not older. Keep in mind, I'm pretty sure it has essential oils in it.

Shortly after lighting it, I realized that the wick was far too long, as the flames were leaping out of the small glass container. I had cleared around it on the dresser... not. It was a miracle something else hadn't caught fire. I tried blowing it out, but it was too strong. Almost catching the house on fire once: done.

First thought to put it out - douse it in water! I had filled up my water glass for the night shortly before, so I grabbed that and began to pour water into the candle glass.

*churthunk*

That's the sound of thick glass breaking into several large chunks. The flames continued, but because I had tried to put out an oil flame with water, it was sputtering little blue sparks everywhere, and without the protection of a short glass wall. Nearly burning down the house a second time: done.

Thankfully, I was able to blow it out once the glass broke. Also, I thought it through this time, and instead of trying to clean it up right away, I let the glass chunks cool before getting the big pieces and vacuuming the floor.

Moral of the story: don't pour ice water onto a leaping-flamed candle? Don't light a candle to cover the stink of a dirty diaper? Something completely different? I'm not sure, you decide.

If you had tried telling me about the benefits of Baltic Amber 10 years ago, I would have thought you were crazy. But now, I consider it a lifesaver. If I'm completely honest, I still wasn't 100% convinced until last week. Bean had been gifted a beautiful Baltic Amber necklace by a dear friend at our baby shower. I had misplaced the necklace and didn't find it until after Bean had started teething. We weren't quite in the throws of the teething storm, yet, and I didn't notice much of a difference. He was a little less fussy, but I thought it could just be my imagination. I had seen it make difference in other children, though, so I was still pretty positive it was working. And then Bean broke his necklace, and we had to send it back to the maker to be restrung. It took me over a week before I was able to get it to the post office. After two weeks without it, it became apparent that something was not right. Bean was constantly in tears, in obvious discomfort, and had started a napping strike. I was exhausted, and Bear and I started discussing getting him a second necklace while waiting for his first to be fixed. Bear has a bad back from a work injury several years ago, and has been on and off anti-inflammatory medication since. I have fibromyalgia, minor scoliosis, and carpal tunnel, all of which can often be helped with anti-inflammatory medication, as well. The main healing property of Baltic Amber is an anti-inflammatory, so we started thinking about getting ourselves each necklaces, too. We figured that, even if it didn't help, they'd at least look pretty.

That’s when I discovered StarlightAmber by Gabba. Gabba and I are in a crafty mama’s group on Facebook, and she was sharing some of her most recent custom pieces. I was thoroughly impressed with her work, and have since developed a crafty crush on her! I messaged her about some custom necklaces for Bear and myself. I noticed that she worked with many different gemstones, not just Amber (which is actually petrified tree sap), so I asked her about what might help with my anxiety, fatigue, and thyroid disorder, as well as my physical discomforts. She worked with me for nearly 2 hours on Facebook Messenger figuring out the best blend of stones for me! I still wasn’t convinced that the stones would have any effect on me, but again, if nothing else, they’d be pretty. After discussing both Bean’s and Bear’s needs for at least another hour, I finalized our order with her. Gabba had them done in less than 24 hours! We got them a week after she dropped them off at the post office, which was impressive given the facts that she mailed them from Germany, and that we were in the middle of the massive snowstorm. The day after I put Bean’s on him, he had no more tantrums and had started napping again! He wasn’t nearly as clingy, and started playing and crawling around more. I was one happy mama! For myself, I was able to go to bed the next night with minimal back pain, and noticed that my consistent anxiety had gone down dramatically. Bear still has his back pain, but has been sleeping better. As the icing on the cake, each necklace is gorgeous and perfect for each of us! She even fashioned Bean’s after one of our favorite shows, Firefly (RIP Wash <3).

After a full week, Bean still has minimal tantrums, is back to taking his daily naps, and is all around back to his happy self! My back and wrists feel a lot better, and I can crochet for longer periods of time. Bear is still sleeping better. I am convinced that this is not a happy coincidence, and that the amber really does work. Gabba keeps an awesome stock on her Etsy page, but if you can’t find exactly what you need, shoot her a message on Facebook and she will work with you to make the perfect custom piece. I highly recommend her work! I asked her if she would be willing to share a bit about herself and her necklace crafting, and here’s what she had to say: “New York born, Florida/Hawaii raised. Chef. Combat Vet. World Traveler. Mother. Wife. I have been crafty my whole life! I have about 200 paintings roaming around the world hanging in friends and family homes, coffee shops and all over my own house. I sew, paint, draw, write and have been making necklaces for about 6 months.I started the amber necklace crafting after getting the supplies to repair the ones my son had broken! I had about 5 broken necklaces, so I did the research for the best materials and repaired them to my liking with a few extra gemstones I had ordered. A few local mamas asked me to do the same, then I realized how much fun this would be to do more often! Amber and gemstones is not something I had knowledge of before I had children! When I was deciding on a vendor I tested my first original samples (salt water test) but since I know they are a reliable distributor, I no longer test each batch.When my first son was teething [amber] was something that was recommended to me and I right away saw a difference in his demeanor and the massively less amount of drool going down his chin. My husband is Wiccan and knows a lot about the proper healing abilities of gemstones, so he was my original knowledge guide when I wanted to add gemstones to my own necklaces. As my crafting ideas grew, I researched the healing power of gemstones and I'm amazed how far back this knowledge goes! I originally only thought to do children’s necklaces, but after wanting a pregnancy/birth support necklace for myself... it all took off from there. At this point I also learn a lot from my customers!”

Thank you, Gabba, for sharing! We are incredibly happy with our necklaces, and look forward to getting more pretties from you in the future! <3

*I realize that Bean's necklace is a bit long, we requested this size for him to grow into. Baby should never be able to reach necklace into his mouth without constant supervision. Be sure to measure baby's neck for proper size necklace.*